frank·in·cense derived from Old French “francencens” which
translates to “high-quality incense.” Frankincense
essential oil is distilled from the resin of the Boswellia tree that grows in
many regions within northern Africa and the Middle East. Oman, Somalia, and Ethiopia are the most
prominent suppliers today. Frankincense
is also referred to by its Arabic name, “olibanum,” derived from “al Luban,”
which means “milk,” describing the milky sap that comes from the “wound” in the
tree after an incision is made in the bark. The tree secretes the sap to
heal and seals the “wound,” helping prevent infection. The sap is given time to harden on the tree
into small golden nuggets of resin known as “tears” before being collected for
extraction. Traditionally, frankincense
was used for hundreds of years in incense, primarily in ancient rituals because
of its promise to bring tremendous healing properties. Priests, rabbis, and medicine men around the
world—especially in the Middle East—appreciated frankincense essential oil for
its antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, and rejuvenating properties. This oil can be used topically on the skin
when diluted with a carrier oil, to disinfect surfaces in the home, or diffused
and released into the air. Frankincense
and myrrh—the gum or resin from the Commiphora myrrha tree—can
be combined for an even more effective solution for killing germs. It is
important to recognize that there is a difference between frankincense
essential oils and frankincense fragrance oils. Frankincense essential oils are safe to use
for the healing benefits highlighted above, as long as the oil is 100 percent
pure and high quality. Frankincense
fragrance oils, however, are safe to use as incense, perfumes, or as
deodorants, but they shouldn’t ever be used—or expected to produce results—as a
healing agent. They should also never be
applied directly to the skin or inhaled through a vaporizer or diffuser.
nostalgia noun
1770, "severe homesickness considered as a disease," Modern
Latin, coined 1668 in a dissertation on the topic at the University of Basel by
scholar Johannes Hofer (1669-1752) as a rendering of German heimweh "homesickness" (for which
see home + woe). From Greek algos "pain,
grief, distress" (see -algia) + nostos "homecoming,"
from neomai "to reach some
place, escape, return, get home," from PIE *nes- "to
return safely home" (cognate with Old Norse nest "food
for a journey," Sanskrit nasate"approaches,
joins," German genesen "to
recover," Gothic ganisan "to
heal," Old English genesen "to
recover"). French nostalgie is in French army medical manuals by
1754. Originally in reference to the
Swiss and said to be peculiar to them and often fatal, whether by its own
action or in combination with wounds or disease. By 1830s the word was used of any intense
homesickness: that of sailors, convicts,
African slaves. "The bagpipes
produced the same effects sometimes in the Scotch regiments while serving
abroad" [Penny Magazine," Nov. 14, 1840]. It is listed among the "endemic
diseases" in the "Cyclopaedia of Practical Medicine" [London,
1833, edited by three M.D.s], which defines it as "The concourse of
depressing symptoms which sometimes arise in persons who are absent from their
native country, when they are seized with a longing desire of returning to
their home and friends and the scenes their youth . . . " It was a military medical diagnosis
principally, and was considered a serious medical problem by the North in the
American Civil War. Transferred sense
(the main modern one) of "wistful yearning for the past" first
recorded 1920, perhaps from such use of nostalgie in
French literature. https://www.etymonline.com/word/nostalgia
July 13, 2016 Silence,
blessed silence, may be a neurological blessing to your mind. Prolonged silence has been shown to spur new
cell development in the brain (among mice), while shorter periods of
noiselessness between sounds have put people into more relaxed states. These findings and others are reported by
David Gross in a Nautilus roundup
of scientific research on the benefits of silence. It also notes that silence can be considered a
rare commodity in our media-saturated world.
There are fewer and fewer places were true silence reigns, and it's the
very rarity of the experience that may be responsible for the neurological
effects found by researchers. The most
intriguing study was one that focused on mice, not humans. Imke Kirste, a biologist at Duke University,
was interested in triggering regenerative effects on brain cells using auditory
stimuli. For her study,
Kirste subjected three groups of adult mice to three types of sound: music, white noise and infant mouse
calls. Meanwhile, a fourth group meant
to serve as a control listened to two hours of silence per day. The first three groups experienced some
positive effects, but nothing long-lasting.
Unexpectedly, it was the "control group" that produced the
effect Kirste was looking for--the development of new brain cells in the
hippocampus, a brain region involved in the encoding of new memories. (People who have experienced severe damage to
the hippocampi can have trouble forming new memories and may even lose earlier
memories.) Kirste hypothesizes that the
unusual experience of a silent environment prompted the mouse brains to
increase in activity, as a response to a strange new situation. In another study on
the effects of sound, Luciano Bernardi investigated the efficacy of music in
modulating stress in people. A medical
researcher at the University of Pavia in Italy, Bernardi and his colleagues C.
Porta and P. Sleight played short tracks of music in six different styles to
human subjects and observed their physiological reactions. A two minute pause was inserted into all of
the musical sequences used in the study.
The researchers had not planned to investigate the effects of the pause,
and yet this short two-minute silence produced a deeper state of relaxation in
the participants than any kind of music.
Silence--particularly periods of silence contrasted against other
sounds--may be just what the doctor ordered for people who are dealing with
stress. John Rosca https://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/25132/20160713/true-silence-creates-new-brain-cells-improves-memory.htm
LIBRARIES ARE BORING
Think libraries are
boring? Think again. Take a look and see just how NOT boring we
are! http://www.toledolibrary.org/boring Watch various versions of "libraries are
boring" and determine for yourself whether the message intended is what
you perceive. For the Muser, negative
advertising implants the negative rather than the positive message.
September
19, 2018 Arthur Mitchell, one of the first black ballet
dancers, has died in New York City at the age of 84 The
pioneering African-American dancer rose from a childhood in Harlem to perform
leading roles under renowned choreographer George Balanchine. He was one of the most popular dancers with
the New York City ballet in the 50s and 60s and was the first black dancer to
gain international stardom. Mitchell
said his greatest achievement was bringing black people into ballet. In 1969 he co-founded the Dance Theatre of
Harlem, which was the first major classical ballet company in America to
prioritise black dancers. See graphics and link to video at https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45583244
ART NEWS
Boston: “Winnie-the-Pooh: Exploring
a Classic,” is on view in the Museum of Fine Arts Torf Gallery, 184, September
22, 2018-January 6, 2019; timed-entry tickets are required for everyone
visiting the exhibition: adults, youth,
and children, members and nonmember visitors alike. https://www.mfa.org/exhibitions/winnie-the-pooh Youngstown: John
Mellencamp: Expressionist Exhibition: September 20-November 18, 2018 John Mellencamp: Expressionist is an
exhibition of the most recent art works from the multi-expressional, creative
spirit of legendary musician, long-time activist and accomplished painter, John
Mellencamp. Though known primarily for
his music, Mellencamp has seriously pursued painting for more than 35 years. https://butlerart.com/john-mellencamp-expressionist/ Louisiana: The contemporary saga of the
16th-century Salvator Mundi painting continues after news broke on September
18, 2018 that the work spent nearly 50 years in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The Wall Street Journal reports that it was part of a
family home collection there, the owners of which had no inkling that it was
painted by Leonardo da Vinci. https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/salvator-mundi-s-patchwork-provenance-now-includes-a-50-year-stop-in-louisiana
Architect Robert Charles Venturi Jr. died September 18, 2018, at the age of 93 in his home
in Philadelphia. According to his son
Jim Venturi, he was free of pain and listening to his favorite Beethoven
piano sonatas. With him was his wife and longtime collaborator
architect Denise Scott Brown. Hailed as a catalyzing force of the
Postmodern architecture style, the Princeton-trained architect published his
groundbreaking treatise, Complexity and Contradiction in
Architecture, in 1966. The
text is credited with redirecting the profession’s prevailing Modernist
sensibilities toward a more sophisticated, historically referential approach. In 1964,
Venturi completed the seminal project of his career: the Vanna Venturi House in Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania, which he designed for
his mother and demonstrates many of the principles he espoused in Complexity and Contradiction. Venturi
received the 1991 Pritzker Architecture Prize, as well as the 2016 AIA Gold Medal—an
accolade that, unlike the Pritkzer, honored
both Venturi and Scott Brown. Born in
Pennsylvania on June 25, 1925, Venturi was raised a Quaker. He received both his bachelor’s and master’s
degrees from Princeton University, graduating summa cum laude in 1947, then
receiving his Master of Fine Art degree in 1950. From 1954 to 1956, he studied
at the American Academy in Rome as a Rome Prize Fellow. Upon returning to the United States, Venturi
taught a course in architectural theory at the University of Pennsylvania’s
School of Architecture; and throughout the rest of his career lectured at
institutions including Yale, Princeton, Harvard, University of California at
Los Angeles, Rice University and the American Academy in Rome. A film Bob
and Denise directed and produced by Jim Venturi is
expected to be released in 2019. Miriam Sitz See
picture of the Vanna Venturi house at https://www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/13633-obituary-robert-venturi-19252018
http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com Issue
1956 September 21, 2018 Thought
for Today
There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in. - Leonard Cohen,
musician and writer (21 Sep 1934-2016) Word of the Day
utopographer
noun One who describes a utopia. The
English writer H. G. Wells, who probably coined the word in his 1927
novel Meanwhile: The Picture of a Lady, was born
on this day in 1866.
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